The below reappeared in my feed on FB today. It is the speech delivered by Sam Jeffrey, Criminal Justice Professor at Harding University, and former CIA operative. I came to know him pretty well while teaching ROTC there. Anyway, when I re-read this speech, I thought that many of you here would appreciate it.

Good morning
I was asked to speak to you today about the September 11th attacks of 2001. I'm honored to do that as I realize that day had a profound impact on my life but happened very early in yours. That being said, because of my work before coming to Harding I must say that today I also mourn the loss of my brothers in the Benghazi attacks of September 11, 2012. They died with honor few men can know. They died that others might live...a very American thing to do.
When I was first asked to speak about the attacks of September 2001 my first thought was to mention a military graduation that I recently went to. A Harding graduate, one of mine, graduated from the US Army Ranger Selection Program. He was one of fifteen graduates from a class that started with one hundred fifty-two. I wanted to share with you what the Command Sergeant Major said at his graduation. He spoke in detail to the graduates and their families about the many threats around the world. The dangers of wars and terrorism and then he said something I’ll never forget. He looked at the graduates and, after detailing all these threats said, “make no mistake gentlemen, I intend to take you into harm’s way. Whatever platform we use to close with the enemy I will be stepping off of it with you and we will destroy the enemy and I will bring you back because you are better trained, more highly motivated and you are equipped with everything you need."
I wanted to share that because military courage and commitment are so close to what the story of 9/11 means to me but the more I thought of it I wasn’t sure I could make the connection for you… and as I kept thinking there was one thought that I kept wanting to tell you…
“I wish you could have seen it.”
Not the attacks…they were horrible. Beyond words really. I have a buddy that was on the ground in New York and his memory of 9/11, the thing that haunted him was the loud slaps of the bodies of those who had jumped from the World Trade Center hitting the pavement around him. I don’t really want to talk about the attacks. 2,977 people died. It is really hard for you to imagine what it was like because you’ve grown up with terrorism. We hadn’t. So… it was chaos.
National Chaos…
This weekend I went back and watched the news from the morning of 9/11. Its clear nobody knew what was going on. There was talk of a bomb exploding at the State Department HQ, CNN reported an explosion at the Capitol building, MSNBC said a bomb had gone off at the Supreme Court. Obviously none of that happened. They weren’t lying. They were just scared like the rest of us.  These days everyone talks about the government response to 9/11… and there was plenty of it… but that would come later. For most of the day nobody even knew where the president was.
It was all chaos…well…not all of it.
You see there were some people who saw what was going on and acted. They didn’t wait or hesitate. They made their move and the rest of us followed.
We were a nation in chaos and we needed leaders…no we needed heroes…and we found them. The heroes of 9/11 weren’t found doing what they were told.  They were found doing what was right. 343 firefighters rushed into rescue and never came back. They knew what they were doing. They knew the risks and they went anyway. 60 police officers went the World Trade Centers to help evac the victims and became victims themselves. Right there 403 men and women immediately. They went. Thousands of civilians escaped death that morning but it came at the cost of their lives. They weren't ordered to their fate. The main cell tower and radio repeaters for that portion of New York were on the top of the World Trade Center and had stopped working. They couldn't hear their commanders but they could see their duty and went to it. They went to it because people needed rescue and if they didn't go who would? I wish you could’ve seen that.
Soon after the World Trade Center was hit a plane flew into the Pentagon in Washington. It came in low over Arlington National Cemetery, crossed over South Washington Blvd and slammed into the Pentagon. 184 people were killed that day but as would be the case in New York several of the first responders would die later from the asbestos and other materials they inhaled while working the scenes. One of those was my friend and father of a Harding student, FBI SA Bob Roth. I don’t recall how quickly Bob responded to the Pentagon but it was fairly soon after the plane hit. In the following days Bob worked in the immense crime scene. One of his duties was to secure all the classified safes that had been in the portion of the Pentagon that had been hit. Whenever Bob and his team found a safe, or what was left of one, they would call over the radio and a guy would show up on a gator and load the safe up and drive it off to wherever they were collecting the safes. Somewhere around day three Bob’s supervisor pulled him off to the side and showed Bob a picture of a man.
“Do you know this guy?” He asked clearly indicating that there was a concern about the man in the picture.
Bob said he swallowed hard. He did know the guy. It was the guy that drove the gator around picking up the safes.
“Yes. Why?”
“Because we have no idea who he is or how he got into the secure area.”
A little investigation found that all the safes were exactly where they were supposed to be. Collected and secured precisely as ordered. A search of the area found the man helping search teams digging through the rubble.
When they pulled him aside to question him he readily stated that he was not there in any official capacity. He was just a retired marine who had been jogging in Arlington National Cemetery when he saw the plane hit the Pentagon. When he saw the explosion he picked up his pace and ran towards the flames…and stayed for three days helping in any way he could find. He had not snuck into the secure area they had built it around him while he worked. Nothing official. Just a man who saw an impossible need and moved out to meet it.
It is what Marines do. It is what Americans do. I wish you could’ve seen that.
And I wish you could have been there to hear the story of Todd Beamer… Todd was a young man, he had been married a few years and had two sons with his wife, Lisa. Todd was a good father, good husband, and a hard worker. He boarded Flight 93 that morning because he had skipped an earlier flight to spend more time with his kids. His plane took off about the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Shortly after takeoff the terrorists stormed the cockpit and herded all the passengers into the back of the plane. Once there Todd used a Inflight phone in the plane to call the operator to get word out they had been hijacked. His called was answered by a lady named Lisa. While Todd talked to Lisa he learned what terrorists had done with the other planes and determined that Flight 93 would not go down like that. Todd informed Lisa that a group of passengers had decided they were going to retake the plane. Todd asked Lisa to recite the Lord’s Prayer with him, which she did. Todd then set the phone down and Lisa heard him say those around him “you guys ready? “Let’s Roll!”
…and with that, before the attacks were even over, the first successful counterattack took place. The terrorists who had either the White House or the Capitol building in their sights were stopped hundreds of miles short not by elite soldiers or a government agency but by average Americans…heroes. I wish you could've seen that.
You see, the attacks were horrible….but they brought out something beautiful. It brought courage to the surface. Pettiness and argument retreated. We were one…just for a little while and it was beautiful. I wish you could’ve seen it.
You catch glimpses it every now and then. One week racial tensions are at their peak and then Hurricane Harvey hits and all of the sudden rednecks are taking their bass boats into inner city Houston to rescue their black brothers and sisters. You see…when everything is quiet and peaceful and plentiful you can fight like cats and dogs but when you’re in a fight for your life you realize real quick who your friends are. You realize we got a lot more in common than you thought.
What September 11th revealed was that the cliché is true. The strength of America is its people. It revealed that secret that the Founders had discovered so long ago…that America is at its best when we lead Washington instead of letting Washington lead us. We are at our best when we disregard policy and ourselves and move to meet the needs of those around us.
The story of 9/11 has to be retold and has to be remembered because there are lessons to learn. For us here today there are several. There are risks... Everyday... and your called to take them.
The Christian, secure in Christ, should be the first to close with the enemy. There are threats...Everywhere.... and your called to face them.
Christ has told us that he intends to take us into harms way. But he has said that he has equipped us, he will go with us, and he will bring us back.
September 11th reminds the Christian that every day is a rescue. Don't be scared of the flames or the fight. Run to them. You're not called to talk or critique. You're called to rescue.
So get after it. You're dismissed.

(Harding University Chapel 9/11/2017)

Sounds like a good plan that clearly defines how screwed we are.

I got the below "letter" in an e-mail from a close family friend. I snoped it and couldn't find anything, so thought I'd post it here for you fine folks to peruse.





I'm 70 and I'm Tired

This should be required reading for every man, woman and child in the UK , in the U.S.A, Canada ,
Australia and New Zealand     

By   Robert A. Hall
   
I'm 70. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years.  I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am.  Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.
Very tired.   
   
I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic.  I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.   
   
I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Sharia law tells them to.   
   
I'm tired of being told that, out of "tolerance for other cultures", we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America and Canada, while no American nor Canadian group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do.  Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?   
   
I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.   
   
I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions.  I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.
   
Yes, I'm damn tired . But I'm also glad to be 70 - because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making.  I'm just sorry for my granddaughters and grandsons.
   
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

This has been around, but I thought you'd all appreciate it anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eEs4ke7cdNQ?feature=player_detailpage%25

Hello to all, and thanks for allowing me to join this site! I am a Soldier, a 4WD enthusiast, gun owner, and believe strongly in the US Constitution. I look forward to sharing information and opinions with you all!